Snøhetta wins competition for new student city

Results announced in Budapest South Gate contest

Snøhetta has won the Budapest South Gate International Masterplan Design Competition, launched in July last year to find viable proposals for the creation of a new student city that would also function as an attractive new city quarter. The development is intended to give new life to under-used brownfield areas, serving both the local and wider urban population. To this end, the design brief asked for housing 12,000 students, alongside educational, recreational and sports facilities. Another important aspect was the enhancement of the relation between the city and the river, creating new lively community spaces while preserving heritage areas, such as the Wholesale Market Place.

In order to establish a strong identity for the 135-hectare site, Snøhetta’s master plan focused on urban relations and connections to the riverside. Water as a main design element is highlighted with channels reaching far into the new district. As well as including public urban spaces on the river front, the park landscape offers recreational areas and sports facilities. This approach also offers opportunities for sustainability in the environment, with the fluvial landscape enhancing the biodiversity of the city quarter and providing opportunities for water treatment.

Snøhetta aimed to give all parts of the urban fabric strong identities that would relate to each other and result in a resilient, colourful and vibrant new district of Budapest, called the South Gate Peninsula. The jury praised the way in which the winning design maximised the site’s potential, stating: “It boldly accepts the challenge of developing a new neighbourhood in Budapest that does not yet exist. It captures the opportunities of the area – offered by water, green belts and the characteristics of an island.”

Lucy NordbergTenderStream Head of Research

This competition was first published by TenderStream on 03.07.2018 here